“If it doesn’t kill me, I’ll go on. If I’m not dead yet, if endometriosis hasn’t killed me, then I’m here for a purpose. I get my strength from God. I talk a lot about God because I have experienced death. I have smelled death, I have been close to death many times,” Njambi Koikai shared in a 2021 interview.
Sadly, two years later, the disease claimed her life.
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The former radio presenter, affectionately known to her fans as Jahmby or Fyah Mummah, passed away on Monday night at Nairobi Hospital.
“There is nothing more we can do for you.” Those were the words she had heard far too often,” she said during the interview.
For two decades, the reggae artist had been battling thoracic endometriosis, a rare condition where endometrial tissue is found in or around the lungs, requiring multiple specialist treatments.
But who was Fyah Mummah?
Born in 1986 in Dagoretti, Nairobi county, Njambi was raised by her single mother and late grandmother. Her mother prioritized education, enrolling her first at St Hannah’s Prep School and later at Makini School for her primary education.
In 2019, she revealed that she had attended five different secondary schools due to her rebellious nature and struggles with identity.
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She first attended Parklands Arya in 1999 and was expelled after one term when she experienced her first painful period. “Every school I went to had a different story. I was taken back to one of those privileged schools. The struggle of identity coupled with what I now know to be the condition that’s plagued me for over 20 years, endometriosis,” she explained.
After high school, she joined Daystar University, graduating in 2008. She later attended the United States International University (USIU) in 2009, dropping out before eventually returning to complete her studies and graduating in 2016.
Her entertainment career began early, quickly establishing her as a renowned deejay in Kenya and beyond for two decades.
Njambi was also an actress with Heartstrings Kenya and a regular on Metro FM, KBC from 2008 to 2012, and Nation Media Group in 2012, where she hosted reggae shows. She frequently appeared on NTV’s popular show The Trend.
Few know that Jahmby was Sauti Sol’s first manager when the group was just starting, with one of the members, Fancy Fingers, crediting her for significantly influencing his career.
She also ventured into politics, running unsuccessfully as an independent candidate for the Dagoretti South parliamentary seat in 2022.
After her story gained media attention in 2017, Jahmby launched a campaign to raise awareness about the disease affecting many women. She needed to raise Sh10 million for her treatment, which was successfully achieved through a benefit concert organized by Kenyan musicians and TV personalities.
In 2018, she traveled to Atlanta, Georgia, for advanced treatment at the Centre for Endometriosis Care. By then, she had stage four endometriosis and required life-saving surgery.
Jahmby aimed to be a beacon of hope for other women with endometriosis, saying, “I want people to know that endometriosis robs women of their livelihoods, careers, relationships, self-esteem, fertility, and will to live because of the pain. But there is hope. We can beat it, and we should continue to fight for a cure.”
According to Endometriosis News, thoracic endometriosis involves endometrial tissue in the chest region and can rarely cause pneumothorax, characterized by air or gas in the pleural cavity, leading to lung separation from the chest wall.
Njambi Koikai, affectionately known as Jahmby or Fyah Mummah, was 38 years old.
